Discovery Communications on Tuesday reported it generated $243 million in revenue from its U.S. cable- and satellite-TV affiliates during the second quarter, up 8 percent compared to this time last year.

The cable programmer--which distributes networks ranging from Animal Planet to The Oprah Winfrey Network--attributed increased affiliate revenue to higher rates and subscriber growth from networks carried on digital tiers. Discovery saw advertising revenue from its U.S. networks division increase 11 percent, to $147 million during second quarter.

Discovery saw the strongest growth from its international networks division, which reported revenue of $405 million, up 10 percent compared to the second quarter of 2011. Revenue at its U.S. networks, meanwhile, increased 6 percent, to $700 million.

The Silver Spring, Md.-based company posted net income of $293 million, or 76 cents per share, up from $254 million, or 62 cents per share last year.